Car-coupling.



PATEN'I'ED MAY 1, 1995',

'J. P. WAGNER.

, UAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.7, 1906.

JNVEZIYTOR i V I A famey WITNESSES.-

UNI ED s'rnrns 4 JOHN F. WAGNER, or TAMAQUA, PENNSYLVANIA.

' CAR-countable.-

no. erases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratented. May 1, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN F. WAGNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tamaqua, 1n the county of Schuylkill and State "of Pennsylvania, have invented new and use- .ful Iin rovements in Car-Couplings, of which the fol owing is a specification.

This invention relates to car-couplings, and has particular reference to the connectlon between thedraw-bar and the couplerhea Usually the draw-bar and couplerhead are integral or are so connected that the coupler-head is always presented in a direct llne forward or in alinement with the shank or'draw-bar; so that when it is desired to couple two cars together while on a curved. track it is practically impossible to get the v two coupler-heads together. -'In such case it is frequently customary to straight portion of the trac before couplir g. When the coupler-heads are yieldingly connected with the draw-bars or shanks and have springs for holding them in central po sition, it is stillpractically impossible for a brakenian to move a couplerhead sufli ciently to one side against the force of such 1push the cars to a springs so as to effect-a coupling of the cars while onacurve.

i The object of this invention is to provide a coupler-head pivotally connected to the shank or draw-bar and so arranged that it may be left free to be swung laterally relatively tothe front end of the shank or drawbar, and yet adapted to be locked in alinement withthe bar, so that there will be no play I .of the head when the cars are coupled and moving. By this means a brakernan may swing a coupler head sufficiently to one side -.to enable the cOupler-headsto automatically engage each other when on a curve and I leave the couplings to be locked in a straight linea's soonas the cars are drawn onto a straight track.

. To these "ends the invention consists in the construct-ion and combination of parts substantially as herein described and claimed.

' Of 'the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 representsfla side elevation of one end of an ordinary form of box-car equipped with a draw bar'and coupler-head constructed accordin' to'my invention. Fig. 2 is an en lai'ged plan view'of the draw-bar and couplerhe'ad. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view'of the forwardend of the draw-bar and its tongue. Fi 5- is a perspective view of the detent for loc 'ng the swinging-hook of the'coupler-head. Fig. 6 is ;a perspective view of the rear arm of the swinging hook which is engaged by the detent shown in Fig. 5.

Similar reference characters indicate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.

A box-car of an ordinary form is indicated at 10, to which the draw-bar 11 is connected in any wellknowr1 or preferred manner. The front end of the draw-bar 3 Is *rrned with a tongue or flat lug 12; preicralny having its front end semicircular, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Said tongue 12 is formed with a hole or eye 13 for the pivot-pin hereinafter described, and the up adjacent to the ho e '13 is formed with a recess 14, preferably rectangular in form and which is herein referred to as a locking-re cess. The tongue'is also formed with/recesses at the sides of the recess14 and of less depth than said recess'l lj Said recesses 15 are hereinafter referred to as supportingrecesses.

The coupler-head 16, which may be of any type, but is shown as of a form having a swinging hook 17, secured to the coup er head by a pivot 18, is pivotally connected with the front end of the draw-bar or shank 11, as hereinafter more fully described. In the form illustrated in the drawin s the rear arm 19 of-the swinging hook 17 is eveled on one side, as shown. in Fig. 6, to cooperate with the beveled side 22 of the'detent 20, pivoted at 21 in the coupler-head. This cooperation of the beveled sides takes place when two cars are being automatically coupled in a well-known manner and which need not be further described herein. The detent is provided with a handle or an eye 23 to enable the said detent to be swung upward, in order to unlock the hook 17 when the cars are to be uncoupled.

The rear of the coupler-head 16 is with upper and lower flanges or ears 25, be Eween whichthe tongue 12 of the draw-bar ts.

27, said recess 26 corresponding insize and form with the recess 14' in' the tongue 12 of.

or surface of said tongue formed The upper ear 25 is formed with a lock-- lug-recess 26 adjacent'to its hole for thev pin or wing being of ashape and size to fit the locling-recesses 26 and 14 of the coupler-,

head and tongue 1'2, respectively. Said dowel or wing is of a length or vertical height soas to practically reach the bottom of the recess 14 when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3.

the operation of the device the couplerhead will be normally held rigid-ly'in alinemcnt with the drawe -bar or shank by the dowel or wing 36 of the pivotpin 27, being in engagement with the locking-recesses i l and 2S, and when. the pin 27 and its dowel or wing are in such position the coupler-head will be held as ri idly in position as though it were integral with the shank or draw-bar; but if two car;

are to be brought together and couple while on a curved piece of track, so that they will not automatically couple with the heads in the position of alinement shown in Fig. 2, the bralreman or other employee will simply lift the in 27 and swing the necessary coupler-hea to one side, letting the dowel or wing 30 rest upon the bottom of one of the supporting-recesses 15, or, if it should be necessary to swing the head very much to one side the said dowel or wing 30 might be permitted to rest upon the upper surface of the tongue 12 beyond a recess 15. When the head has been so brought to a lateral position that the coupling maybe efiected, the employee leaves t e pin 27 resting as described, and after the cars have been coupled and have moved onto a straight piece of track, so as to swing the head or heads that have beentemporarily displaced I back into alinement with the draw-bar or draw-bars, thepin or ins 27 that have been lifted will automatically drop to the position shown in Fig. 3 with the wing or wings '30 looking the parts in alinement', after which the draw-bars and their coupler-heads will remain in alineinzz'st and rigidly so. Of course when couplin is to be effected on a straight piece of tradlr the operationwill be the same as heretofore practiced, there bein then no occasion to swing a con 1' hea laterally. To prevent the couplerea when it has been turned somewhat sidewise, as described, from being thrown too far around by the impact of the car that is to be coupled thereto, I may employ a stop-shoulder 31 on the front of the tongue 12 and a cooperating stop-shoulder 32, (see dotted lines in Fig.

'2,) formed on the adjacent face of the coupg from one side ad acent to its upper end or head, said dowel stood that I do not limit myself to the erases ler-head. It will be understood, however, that in the absence of such means as just described for preventing the coupler-head from being swung too far to either side the end walls of the recesses 15 would perform the same function, for the wing or dowel 30 fits the recess 26 of the coupler-head, and therefore would be swung thereby until stopped by contact with the end'wall of one of the recesses 15. As a means for conveniently uncoupling the cars when the brakeman is on the roof of a box-car, such as shown in Fig. 1,

. I may employ a chain 33, leading from the handle or eye 23 of the detent 20 to a suit able operatingdevice supported in an elevated position on the ear.

It is to be understood that when cars are to be coupled while on a curve it is not always necessary that the brakeman shall first swing the cou ler-head'to onesside. If the pin 27 is held e evated to a sufiicient distance so as to remove the'dowel or wing 30 from the locking-recess 14, the coupler-head will be free tobe swung sufficiently sidewise b the impact of the coupler of another car eing brou ht against it. It is also to be underparticular type of coupler-head illustrated in the drawings, since practically any form of automatic coupler may be substituted for the one illustrated.

Having now described my invention, I claim 1. A car-coupling com rising a draw-bar and a coupler-head pivota lyconnected thereto, means for rigidly locking the headin alinement with the bar, and means for limitin lateral swing of the couplerhead when the looking means are out of engagement.

2. A cancoupling comprising a draw-bar and a con ler-head, a pivot-pin connectin them and having a dowel or wing, the sai bar and head having locking-recesses toreceive said dowel or wing.

3. A car-coupling comprising a draw-bar having a forwardly-projecting tongue formed with a hole and havm a locking-recess adj a, cent said hole, a coup er-head having a rearwardly-extending ortion formed with a hole and overlapping til and having a recess similar to the locking-recess of said bar, and a pivotin having a dowel or wing adapted to fit t e recesses of the overlapping arts.

4. A car-coup ing comprising a draw-bar and a coupler-head pivotally connected thereto and havin looking-recesses normally in alinement wit wing projecting from the ivot member and adaptedto enga esaid 10c -recesses.

5. A car-coup ing comprising adraw-bar having a tongue at its forward end provided with a hole and a recess adjacent said hole and formed with supporting-recesses at the each other, and a dowel or e tongue of the said bar sides of the first-mentioned recess, a coupler- I In testimony whereof I have affixed my head havmg rear flanges or ears and havmg a i slgnature 1n presence or two subscrlbmg Wltloekmg-recess, and a plvot-pln adapted to nesses.

connect the flanges of the coupler-head with JOHN F. WAGNER. 5 the tongue of the draw-bar and having an ina Vitnesses:

tegral dowel or wing substantially as andfor SAMUEL R. BEARD,

the purpose described. FRANKLIN SCHULTZ. 

